Mat Ward

Mat: Let's face it, scenarios are the heart of The Lord of The Rings game. Players can re-enact dramatic scenes from the books or the films, using 'historical' forces or inventing 'what if' situations. When you've played through all the scenarios, chances are that you'll want to create your own, so in this article I'm going to talk about writing scenarios for The Lord of The Rings. I'll take you through the process by which I put together this month's scenario: 'Faramir's Escape', and also share a few hints and tips for making your scenario work and, just as importantly, feel like it's part of Middle-earth.

STEP BY STEP

Occasionally when you sit down to write a scenario, a flash of inspiration will occur and it will pop into your head, fully formed and ready to play. However, far more often you'll start off with a few ideas that need fleshing out further. When this happens, I find it very useful to work through the stages, shown below.

1. Who?
2. When and Where?
3. Why?
4. Battlefield Layout
5. Special Rules

WHO?

Generally speaking it's always a good idea to have at least a vague idea of the forces you wish to include when you start to write a scenario. This can be based on a suitable passage from the book, a scene from the films, or even on your favourite miniatures. It's worth bearing in mind at this stage that your scenario will feel more authentic if the Heroes are accompanied by warriors that they commonly associate with (ie, Haldir with Wood Elves, Lurtz with Uruk-hai etc.). That said, don't be afraid to mix and match characters if you can think of a good narrative to explain it. Boromir being ambushed as he travels to Rivendell and being rescued by Rohirrim, or the Witch-king of Angmar directing Uruk-hai survivors of Helm's Deep are both good examples of the narrative justifying the forces. Once more, let your imagination guide you.

It's always best to go for forces that you personally enjoy using – if you find them fun to use, the chances are that other players will too. You may find that your choice of participants will change as the scenario develops, but this will at least give you a firm place to begin. In this month's scenario I chose Faramir and his Rangers of Gondor as a starting point for the simple reason that I like the models and I haven't yet had a chance to field them.

WHERE AND WHEN?

Next, think about where and when you want your scenario to be set. If you've decided to base it on the books or films, this piece of work will already have been done for you. Alternatively, if you are writing a scenario that occurs 'off camera' as it were, then you need to decide the setting for yourself. Although you can settle for an encounter that takes place in an unspecified place and at an unspecified time, where possible it is always worth trying to get the background of your scenario to fit into the flow of the book. This will lend realism and authority to the events within the scenario and make the players care that much more about the result. On the simplest level, this involves only using groups of characters that were alive at the same time (Elrond and Isildur, for example, but not Isildur and Aragorn).

Far more satisfying though, is to fit your scenario in amongst the real events in the War of the Ring. Obviously, if you do this it does create other problems, and you will probably have to juggle the characters and locations to bring them into line with the books (for example, Boromir could not take part in any scenario that occurs after his death on the slopes of Amon Hen). Once you've decided on the when and where of your scenario it is best to go back and decide on the other participants, based upon where the scenario takes place. As I'd already chosen to use Faramir and his Rangers as one force, it seemed suitable to set the scenario in Ithilien, some days prior to Frodo's meeting with Faramir. With the setting decided, I chose to use Mordor Orcs as the Evil force as this helped to give the scenario an authentic feel.

As far as balancing the forces is concerned, it is always worth starting with two forces of equal points cost. You may find that other factors within the scenario dictate that this isn't suitable (for example, if one side deploys in a good defensive position), but you can always come back and change the forces later. That said, don't be afraid to follow your gut instinct when constructing scenario forces – as you become more experienced at writing scenarios you'll find that your gut is correct more often than your calculator.

Within the cover of a small wood, Faramir's Rangers prepare to fire.

WHY?

Once you've decided on your participants and the location, you'll probably find that the storyline behind your scenario is also starting to come together in your mind, and you'll know the objectives for each force in the scenario. If you don't, try to consider what would make a good storyline – again, this will draw the players into the scenario you are creating. Alternatively, have a think about the various kinds of objectives that are available to you.

Once more, the only limiting factor is your imagination. The scenario can be a Skirmish between two forces – one force has to break or destroy the other to win. More complicated kinds of scenarios include: Relief missions (where one side is trying to destroy a smaller force before enemy reinforcements arrive), Breakthrough missions (where one side is trying to leave the battlefield and the other is trying to stop them), and Assassination missions (one side includes an important character that the other side must kill) and so on. These are only a few examples, but even these few contain a wealth of possibilities. By mixing certain elements of each scenario you can create even more options. In 'Faramir's Escape' the Good force must break the Evil force and get half of their own force off the table – this combines elements of both Skirmish and Breakthrough missions.

Once you've decided on your objectives it's a good idea to go back and write the introduction for your scenario. As a player's initial glimpse of your scenario, this is your chance to engage their interest and inform them of the background. As such, the introduction should briefly cover all of the core points of Who, When, Where, and Why.

BATTLEFIELD LAYOUT

With your scenario now taking shape, you need to think about the battlefield and deployment. How you lay out your battlefield is very important, but straightforward. From the setting you've decided on, and your introduction, you'll already know what kind of terrain the battle takes place on, and from your objectives you'll know if there are any particular features etc, that need to be placed.

It is important to take care and ensure that your layout doesn't overly unbalance the scenario. For example, if the Good force has to leave the board as part of its objectives, make sure that the Evil force has a chance to stop them, but also that the Good force can achieve their goal. This can be done simply, by giving careful thought to deployment zones, but there are numerous ways to achieve the same result. In 'Faramir's Escape' half of the Good force has to escape off the board. Though they deploy within two moves (as the crow flies) of their exit edge, the river between them and safety means that they have their work cut out for them. In general, I've found that it is always a good idea to keep Good and Evil deployment zones separated by at least one move as to do otherwise invites Priority rolls to dictate the outcome of the game within a handful of turns. If you give the players room to manoeuvre it can make for a far more fun and tactically diverse game.

Another thing to bear in mind is not to be afraid of using too much scenery. One advantage The Lord of The Rings has over many wargames is that its skirmish nature means you will seldom put too much scenery down on the board. As a rule I try to design my scenario layouts so that they look good - after all, a game that's pleasing to the eye is always more enjoyable. For 'Faramir's Escape' I wanted to recreate the wild land of Ithilien, and accordingly there are a few small woods, and some rocky outcrops. The other thing to remember is to use the layout section to clarify any ambiguous effects from terrain pieces. For example, does a river count as difficult or impassable? In 'Faramir's Escape', I've been careful to specify the effect of the river.

SPECIAL RULES

With the map designed, you can leap right in and start playing your scenario. However, to add that extra bit of distinction it is often worth adding some special rules. Special rules are an incredibly important tool that can really make a scenario unique, and once more are only really limited by your own imagination. Generally speaking, it is a good idea not to introduce more than one or two special rules into any one scenario. Instead, try to use a few special rules that help reflect the focus of the scenario. For example, if the Good side is performing a tactical withdrawal in the face of superior enemy forces, then the scenario may benefit from a special rule that gives the Evil player reinforcements as the game goes on. Alternatively, if the Evil side is making a last stand against an encircling Good force, it may be a good idea to insert a special rule that makes the Evil force automatically pass any Courage tests. You can even link scenarios together to form a campaign...

The actual mechanics for special rules can be incredibly varied and it would take up too much space to go through them all, but the best guideline for a special rule is 'keep it simple'. Simple rules mean that the game flows a lot more easily and, from the view point of a writer, are a lot easier to explain. In 'Faramir's Escape', there are no special rules that directly relate to the scenario, however I decided it would be nice to allow players to play it as part of a campaign and I have included those rules within the special rules for this scenario.

Faramir guides his Rangers towards their objective.

ALL DONE!

With the special rules finished, your scenario is ready to play. If you're lucky, the scenario will be balanced, but more likely you'll probably find through playtesting that some changes need to be made. Don't worry if it takes a while to get your first few scenarios to balance. Altering the force compositions by only a few models can make all the difference in some scenarios, as can tiny changes to special rules. Try to make only a single change at a time – this will make balancing that much easier. The important thing though is for the scenario to be fun – if you enjoyed writing it, people will almost certainly enjoy playing it!

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas for writing scenarios – in fact, if I've done my job well enough you'll have a few ideas buzzing around in your head already. As I have mentioned, in the process of writing this article, it occurred to me that it would be interesting to write some more scenarios that follow on from 'Faramir's Escape' that will highlight a few more tricks. 'Damrod's Gambit' will look at a different way of handling ambush scenarios and 'In the Shadow of Osgiliath' will take a fresh view on skirmish battles. Watch out for them in future issues!

Related Articles:
Faramir's Escape | Damrod's Gambit | In The Shadow of Osgiliath
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